For the study, Brandts and colleagues collected data on just over 7,800 men and women, aged 55 to 69, who took part in the Netherlands Cohort Study, which began in 1986.
The participants gave information on their weight and height when they were 20. They also described their leisure time physical activity.
Activities included gardening, dog walking, working around the house, walking or cycling to work, and sports.
Participants were monitored until they died or they turned 90. Behavior and a history of illness also seemed to play a role in lifespan, as did smoking, the study authors said.
Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, said, “Since most adults, both men and women, get less than an hour of physical activity daily, the takeaway message for now is more physical activity is better for both sexes.”
As to why height and weight affect lifespan for women, the answers are only speculative, Katz said. The benefit of being lean appears to be the common factor among both men and women, he added.
And it may be a problem of stigma and depression, he said.
“Women consistently suffer the effects of obesity bias more than men, so the mental health costs may be greater,” Katz suggested.
Because excess weight in men is less stigmatized, it may be that men with perfectly good mental health tend to gain weight over time, he said. Women, however, may be more reluctant to gain weight, and gaining weight may be indicative of poor mental health or other sources of duress, Katz noted.
The study was published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
via WebMD Health wb.md/2HzGyJI
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